Top positive review

5.0 out of 5 starsEasy setup, native app works great, and here's how I fixed the loud fan issue...

March 5, 2018

I feel compelled to write a brief review since so many of the current ones seem VERY suspect (who mentions customer service people by name - with so much frequency - in a genuine review?!). Anyways, it works - and I'm very happy with it. I replaced a ~5 year old Dahua custom 16-channel DVR that came with the home we bought. It was a custom install job (with re-skinned firmware) so I hit a dead end trying to update the existing DVR. Given this relatively low price point (and we only needed 8 channels), it made more sense to buy a new one. I paired this with a 2TB Western Digital HDD WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20PURZ. We have 8 channels; 2 of which are indoors. All are 906H resolution. Long story short, this DVR was easy to setup / connect to existing cameras, and - MOST importantly IMO - the native Amcrest app works surprisingly well. Super easy to monitor the home while away. It has mixed reviews in the app store (I have an iPhone X) but after about a month we've had zero issues. Everything just "works". But... always a but... the fan is loud as heck. I tried to replace with an aftermarket fan, but that one was even louder. Ultimately my solve was to remove the fan, and instead install one of those USB fans in the cabinet (providing cross circulation) Arctic ABACO-BZG00-010000 ARCTIC Breeze Mobile - Mini USB Desktop Fan with Flexible Neck and Adjustable Fan Speed I Portable Desk Fan for Home, Office I Silent USB Fan I Fan Speed 1700 RPM - White... that setup was/is whisper quiet. Hopefully this review helps others!

Top critical review

update 2018-06-05I spent about 30 minutes with Amcrest tech support in India. He logged into my PC with their Team Viewer to check settings and try to understand why the cameras are not on in night mode. He told me to “reset” the camera LED ‘s by placing a flashlight on and over the lens for 30secs to 1 minute. I did this and nothing changed. Once their is enough ambient daylight (dawn), the cameras activated in day mode, of course. I’ll be calling Amcrest again for help and emailing them pics.

I bought this as an upgrade to my zmodo 960H system. I spent much time researching and wanted a DVR which was not POE or WiFi. I even bought and returned two others. An Elec and a Zosi. The setup on those was only barcode and not IP. And, the phone app was not so great. This Amcrest AMDV10818 may be the last of it's kind, with so much focus on WiFi. I just set it up so, I don's have all the answers. For instance, I'm not quite sure why there is a border around one of the cameras. (see pic camera 3). I've added two HD pics and one 960H pic so you can see the obvious difference. Also, I only have a VGA monitor so, I'll need to get a monitor with HDMI input to appreciate the video. However, you can see a better picture on the channels I have the cameras installed and, you can see the HD picture on your cell phone app. One this the Zmodo dis that I can't find on this Amcrest is, you can't draw a square around something in the pic and double-click it to zoom in. That was kinda nice.

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I feel compelled to write a brief review since so many of the current ones seem VERY suspect (who mentions customer service people by name - with so much frequency - in a genuine review?!). Anyways, it works - and I'm very happy with it. I replaced a ~5 year old Dahua custom 16-channel DVR that came with the home we bought. It was a custom install job (with re-skinned firmware) so I hit a dead end trying to update the existing DVR. Given this relatively low price point (and we only needed 8 channels), it made more sense to buy a new one. I paired this with a 2TB Western Digital HDD WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20PURZ. We have 8 channels; 2 of which are indoors. All are 906H resolution. Long story short, this DVR was easy to setup / connect to existing cameras, and - MOST importantly IMO - the native Amcrest app works surprisingly well. Super easy to monitor the home while away. It has mixed reviews in the app store (I have an iPhone X) but after about a month we've had zero issues. Everything just "works". But... always a but... the fan is loud as heck. I tried to replace with an aftermarket fan, but that one was even louder. Ultimately my solve was to remove the fan, and instead install one of those USB fans in the cabinet (providing cross circulation) Arctic ABACO-BZG00-010000 ARCTIC Breeze Mobile - Mini USB Desktop Fan with Flexible Neck and Adjustable Fan Speed I Portable Desk Fan for Home, Office I Silent USB Fan I Fan Speed 1700 RPM - White... that setup was/is whisper quiet. Hopefully this review helps others!

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I bought this to replace a Zosi DVR and I am so much happier with this one. I like that it has more features relating to the motion detection and I was pleased to see that you can set 4 different sensitivity & threshold settings per camera. It really is a great product.

Fan noise: I read the reviews and was concerned about it. And yes, you can definitely notice the sound of the fan. It's not a problem for my setup but I wouldn't want it in the same room that I was sleeping, just sayin'

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The DVR was easy to set up and replaced a Q-Cee DVR. The remote and local view through the mobile app was a breeze and connected without issues ( The Q-Cee was very inconsistent). Swapped the hard drive from the Q-Cee into this one ( it was a WD hard drive that I had upgraded for the Q-Cee). The ddns service worked at the first go as well for viewing the cameras outside the home network.

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Super easy to set up, no issues at all. This DVR will output 1080p not 1080n which is not the same. They have an 8 channel for 69.99 which has all the same features but is 1080n. Spend the extra 20$ and get the 1080p. The app they have for your smart phone took 30 seconds to set up after you scan the bar code on your screen to connect to your DVR via internet. I bought 2 megapixle dome cameras to use with the DVR and will be buying more.

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I bought one of these about 3 or 4 years ago and it went out on me. I tried troubleshooting it on my own but it still didnt work. I called tech support and they told me what was wrong, so that impressed me that "wasn't the obvious." They suggested buying a new unit so that is what I did. I hooked up the new one and noticed the app opens quicker, it was plug and play as in I did not have to o anythng with a server, or a router, or a modem, it was just on. And they sold a new unit without the harddrive as tech support told me that my old one would probably but and they were spot on. 5 stars on all counts.

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Oh why did I try those other brands before I went with a winner, works great sends a snap shot of the motion with the email. Why oh why would some one design a DVR which does not do this, I'm talking to you Sannce, Annke, Zosi. I had one hick up when It was not sending the picture because i forgot to set up the schedule, and I called customer support on a Sunday at 6PM and someone actually helped me. I am sticking with amcrest for all my security needs. I will update this in a few months